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Saturday, April 30, 2011

Student and teachers at Beijing BISS International School are always open to learn from and with the world and embrace those who can bring a richer global perspective to our community.

This spring term at BISS we are delighted to welcome the Think Global School (TGS) as residents in the Language Center until the end of June. TGS is a school with an amazing vision, planning to learn in 12 different countries over 4 years, and developing globally minded individuals through experiential learning. Being in its first year students with TGS come from all over the world, are in Grade 9, and will continue through until the end of High School. So far this year they have been to Stockholm and Sydney. We are planning to connect and collaborate across the curriculum while they are here and hope to learn from and with them. Recent joint activities include a ‘getting to know us’ buddy workshop, as well as the Global Issues, team based event.

As a direct result of TGS being resident at BISS we had the unique opportunity this week to welcome to the school Dr Yong Zhao, who is currently the Presidential Chair and Associate Dean for Global and Online Education, University of Oregon, as well as the director of the Center for Advanced Technology in Education (CATE). He is a fellow of the International Academy for Education and the author of ‘Catching Up or Leading the Way’. TGS invited Yong to China to speak to the wider community on Monday evening here in Beijing, in a presentation entitled ‘Students as Global Entrepreneurs’. We invited him to come to a less formal gathering of BISS students and teachers and share his insights with us.

Yong talked about the ‘death of distance’ and how technology now supports communication and learning in a variety of forms, cutting through isolation and broadening our opportunities. He talked about the impact of globalization on the future job market, and encouraged students to create their own jobs rather than be content to study for an occupation that may be obsolete soon. His enthusiasm was infectious, and his message included words such as motivation, confidence, passion, innovation, entrepreneurship, global competencies, cultural intelligences….and more!

I was particularly impressed with how Yong interacted with the younger audience and coaxed responses and ideas from individuals who were often reticent. He is also a great storyteller and shared experiences of his younger life in China. His perception of the China-USA education systems is intuitive. After synthesizing other current day thinkers and writers such as Thomas Friedman (The World is Flat) and Daniel Pink (A Whole New Mind), Yong proposed his own interpretation of the need for creativity and global thinking, along with less meaningless and regimented testing, in education in order to cater for future social development and prosperity.

BISS and TGS students get to know each other through 'buddy' activities

What’s the difference between a computer simulation and a backyard game of tag? Quite honestly, not much – which is exactly why we, as educational media designers, have failed three decades of curious kids (with some notable exceptions). Interactive quizzes and digital flash cards may make content more exciting than their analog counterparts, but that’s a short-sighted approach that fails to get at the root problem, an extrinsic motivation when kids are already intrinsically motivated to learn. The fundamental problem is not that learning isn’t fun, it’s that we’re answering questions that kids aren’t asking (Who?, What?, When?, Where?) instead of giving them tools to experiment, build on, and share their own ideas. The problem is that we’re trying to replace teachers and parents with software rather than giving them complementary tools to help them become facilitators and coaches instead of test administrators.

What’s the difference between a computer simulation and a backyard game of tag? Quite honestly, not much – which is exactly why we, as educational media designers, have failed three decades of curious kids (with some notable exceptions). Interactive quizzes and digital flash cards may make content more exciting than their analog counterparts, but that’s a short-sighted approach that fails to get at the root problem, an extrinsic motivation when kids are already intrinsically motivated to learn. The fundamental problem is not that learning isn’t fun, it’s that we’re answering questions that kids aren’t asking (Who?, What?, When?, Where?) instead of giving them tools to experiment, build on, and share their own ideas. The problem is that we’re trying to replace teachers and parents with software rather than giving them complementary tools to help them become facilitators and coaches instead of test administrators.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

"iPads. Interactive Whiteboards. Netbooks. Video games. Although educational technologies are being implemented more and more in classrooms across the country, we don't often stop and ask students - or their parents - what they think their technology needs are. But the newly-released Speak Up 2010 survey has done just that.

The project surveyed almost 300,000 students (along with 43,000 parents, 35,000 teachers, 2000 librarians and 3500 administrators) from over 6500 private and public schools last fall about how they're using - and how they want to be using - technology for learning."

Soul searching example of using social networking to build dynamic learning communities.....

"If connecting and collaborating through online learning communities is a principle feature of 21st century education, then this video represents a core debate about the use of technology in education. Is technology bringing us together or is it breaking us apart? Does the increasing use of technology make our students better digital, global citizens but reduce their ability to interact socially and emotionally?"

Saturday, April 02, 2011

It often comes as a surprise to people that Australia has compulsory voting in political elections. As a former high school (HSC 1977 Politics) and undergraduate student in politics (minor study) I have always had a great interest in political scenarios globally, and I have always taken great responsibility when voting. The opportunity to vote means taking some time to review candidates, consider their experience and perspective, and to reflect on what position they will potentially take on and how they can contribute to that organisation and become part of the team.

Be a part of the change you want to see in the world, and as in the message of this blog post, the change you want to see in educational technology, and use your voice and VOTE in the ISTE elections.

The ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) Board elections are an opportunity for all ISTE members to have their say, and to take responsible measures to populate the Board with the best candidates they can. Although not compulsory, it is something that this organisation feels strongly about and encourages everyone to use their voice and vote for the next new Board members.

As a long-standing member of ISTE (must be about 10 years now I think), and as an ISTE Ambassador, I am honored to accept nomination as International representative on the ISTE Board and encourage you to consider voting for me! In addition, I ask that you also consider voting for Australian colleague, Tony Brandenburg, as an 'At Large' representative on the Board. My friend and Flat Classroom co-founder, Vicki Davis, wrote a humbling blog post, ISTE Members: I am asking you to vote for Julie, that says this is not a vote against anyone else, as all candidates are amazing and highly qualified, but this is a chance to show support for international candidates in particular.

Only ISTE members can see inside the election ballot and review candidate profiles, however I am reproducing part of mine and part of Tony's here for your consideration. I encourage you also to JOIN ISTE, online membership is about $50! Lots of great resources and online communities to be part of. Voting closes April 11!

Julie Lindsay - Nomination for ISTE Board as International Representative.

Identification of the THREE most salient issues in educational technology:

Leading for change in a flat world: ".....A 21st century leader leverages the technology and learns from a personal learning network that is global, provides immediate feedback and resources, and supports development of an international perspective to maximize learning."

Global (Digital) Citizenship: "We talk about citizenship and attitudes and behaviors to support effective participation in society....we should also be talking about and acting on the need for ......global digital citizenship where responsible, reliable and respectful learning scaffolded by appropriate technology use is a part of all education systems."

Embedded Professional Development: "...A ‘doing’ rather than ‘watching’ approach in conjunction with a higher order thinking ‘create’ approach is needed to transform learning for all and foster the change we need to see in schools"

Tony Brandenburg - Nomination for ISTE Board Member At Large

Tony is currently a Professional Development manager for the Victorian Institute of Teaching, Australia. He has worked outside of Australia, and has a keen perspective on the needs of education systems to move into the 21st Century.

Identification of the THREE most salient issues in educational technology:

Education funding and ongoing advocacy: "I do believe that passionate persistent advocacy; excellent information and clear goals and objectives are essential when dealing with system and government authorities...... Much time in my past few years has been spent on finding ways to encourage government to invest in their most important asset, the teacher"

Communication: "The challenge for ISTE is to continue to communicate not only with its members but also with the global community in a realistic, informative and non-confronting manner."

Understanding today's learner's and meeting their needs: "One of the issues that confront present day educators is the need to focus on the learning needs of their students and to develop ways to connect with them and to optimize their learning opportunities."